Pacing his room anxiously, Ryou
unconsciously raised a hand up to clutch at his shirt, accidentally grabbing the pendant
hanging there. Hissing in pain, he yanked his hand away from the silver ankh,
mentally kicking himself for having forgotten it. When he'd arrived home, Shadi's
men had dragged him up to his room, then two of them had held his arms while Shadi hung
the ankh around his neck. The whole time his father had just watched, even as the
slender teen had screamed in agony when the metal touched his skin. They'd left him
alone after that, locking him inside and hanging ankhs and other holy items from Egypt
around the door and window. Frustrated and angry he had pounded on the door,
demanding that he be let out. His father had responded by calling though the door,
saying that this was for his own good. Then Shadi had added that he would be
thanking them when Bakura was dead and gone. This sent the confined teen into a fit
of furious shouting and broken sobs until he finally wore himself out.

The pain on his chest didn't allow
him much peace and soon he was forced to pay attention to the pendant that had seared his
flesh. A few burned fingers later and Ryou had managed to get the ankh on the
outside of his shirt. He'd tried to get it off entirely, but couldn't touch it long
enough to manage it. Ceasing his restless pacing, Ryou gazed out the window with
rising hope and dread. The sun was setting, Bakura would be coming for him. 'Be
safe, my love.'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

He knew something was wrong before
they even set foot in the house. Ordering the mry and Xrd(1) to
remain in the shadows, Bakura took his three sArt(2) and their waw(3)
inside. Within minutes, the group had searched the building and returned to the rest
of their clan. Two waw had fallen prey to traps left by the hunters, but
the rest were unharmed.

Bakura was furious, but was not
about to let his anger get the best of him. "Seto, I want you to make
preparations for our departure."

The tall sArt vampire
turned to his creator, "How soon?"

"Find a place on the mainland
immediately. I want us out of England tonight."

"What about your mry?"

The Nb vampire smirked,
"I'm taking him with us. Atem. Marik. Watch over the others, the
hunters will be on the look out for us now."

"They'll never know we're
here," Atem promised.

"And if anyone sees us, it will
be the last thing they do," Marik continued his fellow sArt's promise,
grinning evilly at the thought.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

In an attempt to distract himself
from worrying, Ryou had taken out a book and began to read. Even this didn't work
entirely for he still found himself looking up at the window after every page.
Sighing in frustration, he sat the book aside and lay back on his bed, staring at the
ceiling. Suddenly a familiar cool sensation began trailing up his legs, bringing his
focus to the end of his bed, and making the boy stare in shock at what he saw: Thick
black tendrils of a smoke-like substance were gliding up his calves and on up his thighs,
slowing caressing him as they did. His breath hitched nervously, yet he made no move
to get away. He knew this feeling. It was the same one he'd experienced the
night of his father's last party.

A deep laugh echoed through his mind
as the shadows continued their sinuous path up his body. ((So you DO remember
this,)) the voice chuckled, the shadows solidifying into a very familiar shape.

"Bakura?!" Ryou squeaked
in shock, unable to believe his lover's boldness. The man had appeared on top of him
completely in the nude. "I knew you'd come for me . . . but shouldn't you put
some clothes on?"

About to reply with something
guaranteed to fluster the teen, Bakura was brought up short by the sight of Ryou's
necklace. "Who did this?!" he hissed angrily, glaring at the offending
object.

"Shadi did. He had his
men hold me while he put it around my neck," Ryou blinked rapidly to hold back his
tears. "It burned me. It burned me and I couldn't take it off. I
barely got it outside my shirt," he told the vampire sadly.

Ignoring Ryou's panicked gasp,
Bakura gripped the pendant and yanked, snapping the chain easily. "Do not
worry mry. At my age, this is nothing," he reassured the youth,
tossing the ankh across the room. "Just let me take care of you," he
purred, taking one pale hand into his own. Turning the palm up, he gently licked the
burned skin, his saliva easily healing the wounded flesh. He repeated the process
with Ryou's other hand before turning his attention to the worst of the burns: the
ankh shape on his chest. Carefully unbuttoning Ryou's shirt, he began growling at
what was revealed: A deep and clear shape of an ankh had been seared into the boy's
delicate skin. The burn was severe enough that it had blistered quite badly.
"Be brave my mry, I will heal the damage that bastard has caused you,"
he vowed, kissing the teen softly. Using feather-light strokes of his tongue, Bakura
healed the wound in the same manner as the others, but unlike the burns on his hands, this
one left a white ankh-shaped scar in its' wake.

The next morning Ryou's father
headed up the stairs in an optimistic mood. His son had been quiet for most of the
night and the older man was hoping that his only child had calmed enough to listen to
reason now.

"Ryou, I've got breakfast for
you." Mr. Morgan said as he came into his son's room. "I hope you've had
time to-" the man cut himself off abruptly, noticing for the first time that he was
alone in the room.

"He's gone!"

"That's impossible!" one
of the hunters shouted, he and his partner beginning to search every square inch of the
room, the boy had to be hiding!

Having heard the shouting, Shadi
came barreling into the room, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Bakura!" he
seethed, "Tonight, you and your clan will die!"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Watching from the windows and
parapets of the abandoned castle, the sArt and waw vampires eagerly
awaited battle. Seto had chosen this particular French castle for more than just
its' size and stability. It was also a perfect place to wage war against the
hunters. The mry and Xrd had been hidden deep within the castle,
guarded by a series of lethal spells and traps of their own and their Nb and his mry
were safely ensconced in their own room. The sArt had their orders:
Let Shadi and Mr. Morgan reach Bakura and Ryou while slaughtering the remaining
humans. Tonight was to be the end of the Egyptian vampire hunters.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Fighting their way through the crowd
of vampires, Shadi and Mr. Morgan headed deeper and higher into the castle, following the
blood-bond between father and son with the same spell they'd used before. Several
floors up and at the end of a long, vaulted corridor they spied a lone oak door, light
glowing softly around the frame.

Sure that their quarry was behind
the door, the two men readied their weapons and charged into the room. Immediately,
an overpowering odor struck their noses causing both men to come up short, the air inside
the small room was thick with the scents of sex and blood.

Regaining their composure the the
two men easily found the source of both odors. In the center of a large bed sat a
nude Bakura and Ryou, the smaller boy straddling the creature's lap, tiny fangs poised to
take the final step in their mating.

"STOP!" Shadi roared,
desperate to stop the child before it was too late. Stake at the ready he lunged
forward to attack Bakura but was stopped abruptly in his tracks. Shocked he looked
at his arms only to find them held in place by thick black shadows that were curling
around his legs as well, securing him tightly in mid-air. The hunter took a quick
look behind himself and to no surprise, found Ryou's father in the same state as he.

"Ryou, don't do it! Don't
sell your soul to the devil!" his father pleaded, desperately trying to reach his
child.

Sparing his father a serious and
steady look the teen smiled softly, "But this is what I want," Ryou replied
calmly, sinking his teeth into Bakura's neck and drinking deeply. After only a
couple mouthfuls he pulled away and felt his eyelids droop, he was so tired now!

"It's all right, mry,"
Bakura soothed his mate, knowing what was confusing him so. "Rest now. It
won't be long and when you wake, we'll be together forever."

"Forever," Ryou murmured,
falling unconscious. His breathing slowed and his body shuddered a few times, then
all was still. For a few moments all the humans could do was stare in horror at what
had just occurred, unable to form words that could express their contempt for the monster
lovingly stroking Ryou's silky hair.

Swallowing harshly a few times, Mr.
Morgan finally regained his voice, railing against the vile demon who had betrayed
and murdered his only child. His tirade might have gone on forever if not for the
sudden gasp from the pale teenager lying on the bed.

Astonished, the two human men
watched as chocolate brown eyes snapped open and locked onto the vampire, surprise and
confusion showing clearly in his expression.

"I told you it wouldn't be
long, didn't I?" Bakura answered his unspoken question, pulling the fledgling vampire
into his arms and hugging his lovely mry.

"We have just what you need mry,"
Bakura assured the fledgling. "Take your pick," he offered, gesturing to
the two men being held in place by his shadows.

Smiling serenely, a still naked Ryou
slid off the bed and glided across the room letting his new instincts guide him.
They both smelled so good! But one of them smelled better than the other . . .

"Ryou don't!"

"Don't you dare look
away," Bakura snarled, forcing Shadi to watch as Ryou fed from his father.
"Take this as your last vision into the afterlife!" he growled, sinking his
teeth into the hunter's neck and draining him of his life.

Noticing Ryou had finished before
him, Bakura snapped Shadi's neck to finish the job. "Such a messy eater,"
he teased, dropping the hunter's lifeless corpse to the ground. The new fledgling
not only had blood covering his mouth, but had allowed it to run down his throat and
chest, the bright crimson fluid a stark contrast against his soft pale skin.

"You're more than welcome to
help clean me up," Ryou purred in return, extending a hand in invitation.

Unwilling to resist his lover's
charms Bakura stepped over the dead hunter and scooped his bloody mate up over his
father's corpse and into his arms. Ryou squealed in delight, wrapping his arm's
around the elder's neck to pull him into a deep kiss.

Neither paid any mind to the cooling
bodies beneath their feet or the screams from the floors below where the other hunters
were dying. All that mattered was that they had each other.